It is never too late to start a senior model program. In fact, now is the best time of the year to define your program and select your models. Every market is different, but most of us slow down in the winter months. We have photographed the bulk of the senior class in the fall, however there will be a few spring senior's sessions that book right before graduation. This is the time to prepare for the next class. Jen Basford with 3 girls photography and Seniors Ignite joins us for another article highlighting how to plan your senior model program and at what times to execute your marketing for the new year.

Trade secrets exist in every industry known to man. In most industries, trade secrets are common, expected, and understood. No one gets all bent out of shape about Coca-Cola keeping their formula a mystery. No one stops using Google because they don't share their search algorithm. Without these secrets, a vast number of companies wouldn't even exist. The whole primus of having a trade secret is having the ability to do or create something no one else can recreate. With that being said, are we as photographers allowed to have trade secrets or are we obligated to share our knowledge with everyone?

Whether you love or hate wedding photography, it's by far one of the most incredibly difficult forms of photography out there to capture. The fact that you have one shot at getting the couple's once-in-a-lifetime day captured is pressure enough to stay away from it. Junebug Weddings just announced the winners of their 2014 Best of the Best Wedding Photography Collection and the results are astonishing.

It's amazing how adding just a little bit of shadows can drastically improve the depth of your photographs. Contouring faces is a little trick that can take a few minutes to do, but ultimately increases the overall image quality. I'm going to show you how to use the adjustment brush tool in Lightroom to act similar to the dodging tool in Photoshop, and then the key areas to brush for properly contouring a face.

Last year a group of time-lapse photographers organized by Shiseido Ruiz produced a video of the New Year's Eve ball drop and other events in Times Square, New York City that made Vimeo's Staff Pick. This year, Ruiz and his crew decided to step up their game and headed back to the rooftops around Times Square to produce an even better one. In a feat of artistic and logistical achievement, The Timelapse Group managed to produce a stunning and truly unique film of the NYE festivities in Times Square that will make your jaw drop. In an interview with Fstoppers, Ruiz provides a look into what it takes to produce a time-lapse film of this magnitude.

While on an expedition in Antarctica, photographer Alex Cornell had the rare opportunity to photograph a recently flipped iceberg. Defining to the old adage "just the tip of the iceberg," it turns out the underside can be illuminated with unbelievable bright blues and striation that reveal visually stunning secrets of these sleeping giants. Witnessing a flip is uncommon, and moreover the surreal texture and colors distort the scale making it a truly incredible encounter.

Last year at my workshop in the Bahamas, my students challenged me to photograph a hotel room in under five minutes. They then wanted to see how fast I could retouch it, and I've decided to do it again, this time capturing it on camera, to show everyone what is possible with only a few minutes on location, a bit of Photoshop knowledge, and of course a lot of practice in the art of previsualization!

When legendary photographer Jay Maisel speaks, people listen. For half a century now, Maisel has been creating breathtakingly extraordinary images, and so it is no wonder why PDNOnline recently filmed some wise words coming from the man himself. In these two bite-sized videos, listen as he offers satisfying advice on becoming a better photographer and how the use of gesture in your photographs can make all the difference.

I must be getting old. This year I will turn 32 and as each day of my life passes I care about social media sites less and less. I can remember when a Facebook "like" used to excite me. Those days are long gone, I simply do not care anymore, and my business is struggling because of it.

It’s the middle of winter; everyone is looking a little pasty and pale, and you wish the subjects you are photographing had that healthy summer glow. So what do you do? Should you send them to a solarium or get a chemical spray? If you are a fan of black and white photography, this is a fantastic Lightroom technique that will give your subject a natural looking suntan.

Patrick Hall shared some opinions about what features our professional DSLRs absolutely should have, but don’t, going into 2015. And he was right. But as happy as having those features would make us, not one or even all of them would allow any single company to become the next Apple or Google of the photography world. However, there’s something bigger that no one is thinking about — or at least there aren’t any signs of it. Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Phase One, Hasselblad; no one seems to be doing what it would really take.

If you aren't applying any color grading to either your photographs or motion work, you are potentially missing a vital part of the process of finalizing your image. Color grading can be one of the most impactful tweaks you can make to your work once it’s been shot. It has the potential to elevate a good image to great, or a great image to outstanding. This short video and article highlights why it's so important and the powerful impact it can have on your work.

The Fstoppers Workshops is back again for 2015 with the best photography workshops on the incredible island of Nassau in the Bahamas. If you are planning on coming but do not have the full amount saved, you can reserve all of your photography workshops for just $500 before they sell out.

Through the years shooting weddings, I have found that my favorite photos always tend to be those charming candid moments that last ever so briefly. In this video and article I wanted to talk about my technique in how I set up and capture well composed and lit candid moments. Hopefully I will see you all in the Bahamas where we are going to dive into all of these subjects in complete detail in our Ultimate Wedding Photography Workshop!

Watch tiny people hustling around the larger than life landscape of Norway and Iceland in this delightful timelapse by DAMP Design's Martijn Doolaard. The quick speed and tilt-shift focus along with unique sound engineering create an alternative world set in the dramatic landscape of Norwegian fjords and hot springs. Recently chosen as a Vimeo Staff Pick, Doolaard's "The Little Nordics" is a must watch video short.

This past Sunday the Hollywood elite gathered at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the 72nd annual Golden Globe awards. Many of us can only dream of what it would be like to take the stage in front of such a large number of A-list celebrities to accept one of those golden globes, or what it would be like walking off the stage with one in hand. Well now, thanks to acclaimed fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth, we get a taste of what that experience is like.